Sunday, August 24, 2014

Cave people by the dozen!

In the distant past, long before I discovered Two Hour Wargames, I wrote a game for cavemen, though really proto-Native Americans, from about 12,000 - 10,000BC. I based it upon discoveries at the La Brea Tar Pits in California. It was called NEOLITHIC, and is still available through the Free Wargames Wiki at
http://freewargamesrules.wikia.com/wiki/Neolithic .

It was fun, in its day but Adventures in Lost Landsis more fun, and, better still, uses d6.

When I wrote the rules, I was a bit poorer and couldn't even dream of Copplestone figures, who may not have had cave people back then anyway. So a friend got me a number of packs of Stratagem Miniatures Indios from the Sugar Wars range. There were only 3 figures, club armed, bow armed, and a female.

Quest for Fire, 1981, had come out some years earlier, and I was quite impressed by the Ash tribe, so my 2 opposing sides were the Red Clay People, and the Ash People. And, finally, here is a photo of the Ash People. You can click on the pics for a larger view.

Though there appear to be more variety, that is just simple conversions. The club man had his club removed, and either left weaponless or given light throwing spears. The spears were made a little squiggly on purpose. (I can't tell you how many .025 drill bits I broke putting those spears in.) The female has a pack on her back held by a headband. She also has a fig leaf. If I were to do it again, I would probably remove it. In my rules, and ALL, girls are not fighters unless cornered. So they fit my hunter-gatherer ideas perfectly. And here are the Red Clay People. Both tribes have a total of 25 members, with 4 ladies. I have since received about a dozen more figures, but they are still in the bags.

You can see that the Stratagem figures are a bit rough by today's standards, and, as far as I can tell, are no longer available.

Later, I was able to add Pulp Figures Neanderthal figures. Apparently, I have PLT1, 2, and 4.

These are, of course, much better figures.

To counter them, I added both Reaper and Copplestone Cro-Magnons.

(What caveman collection is complete without the last figure on the right?)

When Mega Minis decided to cease production, I picked up a set of their monkey boys, 2-part hairy boys!

And of course, I have added any figures that I thought I could fit in. A Ral Partha, 2 Reaper cave girls, and a Ground Zero Games.

The Ral Partha girl is a slight conversion. The first Reaper cavegirl had a non-removable (for me) mold line, so I painted it as a scar. She also has a happy trail. You'll notice that the next Reaper has had her eyes finished since her last appearance here.
And here are 4 Smilodons by 4 different manufactures, so they won't look all the same on the table. Remains were found in the La Brea Tar pits.

A cave bear, a large and heavy metal casting, probably from RLBPS.

A giant ground sloth, in resin, from the same source.

A woolly rhino, again from RLBPS.

And a shovel-toothed mastodon, an extremely heavy metal casting.

I also have 2 pre-painted plastic woolly mammoths, but they were hiding this morning!

And a dozen goats from Irregular miniatures. (No, they're not all in the picture.)

Thanks. There wasn't a lot to choose from back then. There was Steve Barber, but I don't have any of his. I was also able to get a bunch of Steve Valenti Neanderthals, but they were a little too cartoony for my taste.

About Me

Been wargaming since the early 1960's, starting with a mimeographed set from Jack Scruby and Airfix figures. After a long hiatis, and running into Larry Brom and Bob Kelso at conventions, I began again with Ral Partha and Falcon.